


First Comes Love

by hunters_retreat



Series: Further Interruptions [42]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Dating, M/M, Rogue Alchemists, Roy and Ed are dating, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 16:06:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19299133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: Ed continued to look at him and Roy realized that Ed noticed the same things he did.  His boyfriend was standing in front of him, but there was something that wasn’t quite right.





	First Comes Love

Roy Mustang could admit when he was wrong and in this instance, he was sorely wrong.  He should have called for backup, but he couldn’t believe that the alchemist that had been part of his abduction almost a year ago was stupid enough to try to research right there in Central City; in the military archives no less.  Roy had doubted the validity of the new lead on a case that had been cold nine months but he did his due diligence.  Roy had taken the phone call with the sighting after everyone had left the office so he’d decided to check it out alone.  The lead that he had thought was just another false trail had turned into something very real.

Roy chased the man down on foot and ran straight into an abandoned building.  There wasn’t time to wait for backup or wonder where he was leading now.  A year ago the man had been part of a group that had tortured Roy for military secrets and, though unknown to most, the location of the Fullmetal Alchemist.  Roy would do anything to protect Ed from these men, so there was no sense of self-preservation to kick in when he ran through the door without slowing. 

As soon as he crossed the threshold of the door, the blinding light of an array went off.  He was momentarily disoriented from the light and the room seemed to shift under his feet. 

It only took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the much darker space.  It only took a moment to realize they were no longer in the warehouse but in a house, with a large front sitting room.  There was something almost familiar about the place.  He wanted to stop and take a deeper looked to understand where he was, but a sound brought his attention forward.  Across the array from him was the alchemist who had brought him here.  He saw Roy at the same moment and he threw himself at Roy.  Roy hadn’t even been able to ask what the guy wanted but he blocked the first punch that came his way and managed to connect with one of his own.  He might not be as skilled a fighter as Ed and Alphonse, but Roy had learned to channel a lot of his anger and self-loathing into physical training in the last couple of years. 

The array under him was still active and Roy was afraid to do anything with his alchemy while inside that circle.  “Why are you doing this?” Roy demanded as he struck out.  He managed to land a shot to the man’s nose but the taller man moved away before Roy could get another shot.  “What do you want?”

“What the hell?”

Roy knew the voice and he turned back to look at Ed.  The alchemist he was fighting took advantage of Roy’s distraction and ran.  He shot through the back door and out into the backyard and Roy was about to follow when Ed yelled, “Stop!”

Roy couldn’t let his abductor get away but he turned back to look at Ed and he was struck instantly by the fact that this wasn’t the Ed he knew.  He looked … older.  His face had thinned and tiny laugh lines had begun to appear around his eyes and mouth.  He was in pajama bottoms and a light tee shirt but his hair was loose around his shoulders.  He looked tired but not like he carried the weight of the world.  More like a lack of sleep from late night research.  His hair was a little shorter than it had been last night when they’d gone to dinner together.

“Did you get your hair cut, Ed?”

It was the most ridiculous question but for some reason, that fact seemed to settle on his tongue before he could ask anything else. 

Ed was staring at him like he was crazy, but when Roy started to move closer, Ed held up his hands.  “Stop, Roy, you need to stay where you are.”  Ed continued to look at him and Roy realized that Ed noticed the same things he did.  His boyfriend was standing in front of him, but there was something that wasn’t quite right.

“Ed?”

“Just tell me this first.  What year is it?”

“What?”

“What year is it?”

“It’s 1926.”

“This can’t be happe …” Ed shook his head and cut himself off mid-word.  “Roy, it’s 1937.  Your standing in a time travel array.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know, but it is.”

“You’ve seen this before?” Roy asked.

“Yes.  Just stay where you are.  It’ll take you back to where you belong.”

There was a sound from upstairs and Ed turned his head before he looked back at Roy, his eyes wide.  “Just give me a second and don’t move.”

Ed ran towards the hallway and Roy took a minute to register where he was.  The house itself wasn’t familiar to him, but there were things here that were.  A photograph of himself with Maes and his family the day Elysia had been born.  A small figurine Chris had sent him after the Promised Day to let him know where she had settled until it was safe for them to be in contact again.  A blanket was thrown on the edge of the couch that Gracia had given to him. 

There were other things that weren’t so familiar though but were easy to recognize.  A frame with a childhood picture of Ed, Alphonse, and Winry.  A small oil container that Ed kept with him for his automail.  A stack of books on the coffee table that was so unlike Roy, but entirely like the Elric brothers.

“I’m sorry,” Ed came running back into the room a second later.  “Just, stay where you are.  Roy, trust me.  The array will take you home if you stay where you are.”

“What happens in-“

“Don’t.  I’m not going to tell you anything.”

He could see it in Ed’s eyes, the determination to keep the future hidden from Roy.  He wanted to know so much, but there was one question that burned against his throat.  Nothing else mattered as much as his one answer.

“Just tell me this, then.  Are you happy, Gold?”

Ed shook his head, denying him an answer but his smile said more than words could.  “Come ask me in 11 years, Bastard.”

Roy relaxed a little because at least he knew that much.  He remembered where he was then and why he was there.  “Ed, the man that escaped.  He was the one that abducted me last year.  Find the future me and tell me.  He needs to protect you.”

There was another noise from the other room again, and this time Roy heard it clearly.  A baby’s cry.  Ed ran his human hand through his hair and Roy caught the glint of gold on his finger.  A ring.

“I’m sorry.  Just stay there and you’ll go home.  I have to go before she wakes you up,” Ed said as he ran in the other direction.  He was still mumbling under his breath but Roy could make out his words.  “Of course your daughter would wake up while your time traveling double showed up, you Bastard.  We just fell asleep an hour ago.”

Roy was too stunned to say anything.  The array activated again just as Ed had said it would and Roy managed to keep his feet.  He found himself back in the warehouse where he had been chasing the alchemist.  He realized then that the man had gotten away, that he was in 1937 and Roy had no way to chase after him.  For 11 years he’d be unable to follow the alchemist to ask him why he’d wanted Ed so badly.

A loud explosion shook the building and Roy looked to see that there were smaller arrays on the walls, set up so that they’d go off in a chain reaction once the first array was completed.  He ran from the building, watching as the whole thing collapsed in on itself.

He couldn’t find a way to recreate the array and he wasn’t sure anyone would believe him if he tried.  Hell, he wasn’t sure he believed it.

He wanted to though.  He wanted to believe.  Because the smile that Ed had given him wasn’t bogged down with the troubles that Roy still saw on his boyfriend’s face sometimes.    That smile had been happy and worn often enough that laugh lines had begun to show.   He wore a wedding ring and he’d said he needed to go before their daughter woke his future-self up.  Which meant in 11 years he was married to Ed and somehow they had a daughter. 

Roy sat down and let that revelation flow through him.  He smiled then, thinking about the box with a ring that was sitting on his bedside table, waiting for the right time.  He already had a vague plan in mind for asking.  It had required the help of the Emperor of Xing, but thankfully the Emperor’s friendship with Ed was still intact and he’d been more than willing to help. 

He still wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing.  They had only been dating for four months.  He and Ed were a long shot at best, with everything that had happened between them, but Roy loved him.  It was that simple.  He loved Ed and he would never take for granted everything that his Gold had given him.  To believe that there was a future for them, with a happy home and children?  He and Ed with a family?  He couldn’t make his heart stop racing at the thought.  It was everything Ed deserved.  Everything Roy wanted to give him.

He heard sirens and cars approaching and knew that in a few minutes he’d have to explain what had happened.  He couldn’t tell them about the time travel array, of course.

Ed had known in the future.  How?  If the Ed of the future knew about time travel, when had he learned?  Did Roy tell him?  But Ed seemed surprised to see him there, so it made no sense.  Roy couldn’t have told him.  So, Ed had experienced it on his own.  Was it something they’d explore sometime in the future?  Or would Ed come up against it in his research? 

There was no way to know.  Roy decided against mentioning it to his lover, but he’d keep an eye on Ed to see if anything changed, if Ed ever reacted to anything that would show time travel was an actual thing.

The police arrived and thankfully his team arrived shortly after that.  They set up a perimeter to make sure that no other buildings in the area were rigged to blow.  Investigations arrived and Roy couldn’t help the way he looked at Fullmetal, cataloging the ways in which his lover was different from his future self. 

Ed frowned as he and Hawkeye traded notes then marched over to Roy.  “What the hell were you thinking, chasing after someone on your own?” He demanded, eyes cataloging and looking for anything that might show Roy had been hurt or over-exhausted himself.  Ed had been that way about his safety since his abduction.  It made something in Roy loosen up.

“I was following a lead from a cold case that I thought was a dead end.  I didn’t intend to have to run someone down on foot.”

Ed shook his head as he turned away angrily.  Roy grabbed his hand quickly and stopped Ed.  Ed turned to frown at him but Roy just smiled.  “Have dinner with me tonight?”

“Work, Mustang.  We’re at work.”

“Have dinner with me after.”

Ed let out a short breath.  “Alright, but it better not be one of those fancy places.”

Roy laughed but coughed quickly when he saw Hawkeye headed their way.  “Come by when you finish tonight.  You can pick the place.”

Ed smiled then, and Roy caught the trace of the more relaxed smile he’d seen in the future.  “See you tonight, Mustang.”

“Sir?”

“We’ve done all we can here.  Let’s get back to the office, Hawkeye.”

“The building? And the alchemist?”

“We’ll talk at the office.”

He couldn’t tell them about time travel but he could let his team know that he had seen the alchemist and that he was gone for now.  They’d catch him, Roy had faith in that, but until then, he had a man to win over and he had to prepare his plan for asking Ed to marry him. 

Some people would be surprised at the thought of Roy settling down but those who knew him best knew he was a romantic at heart.  And he loved Ed, completely.  Any and all versions of him.  Asking for his hand was just the next step towards the life he dreamed of.  After all, even school children knew the rhyme. 

Roy smiled as he chanted softly to himself on the way to the car, “First comes love, then comes….”

 


End file.
